dmb, Don't tell me not to "retreat into mysticism" when you are making the case that Pirsig is offering an empirically based form of philosophical mysticism.
Marsha p.s. I have a copy of your thesis, but I haven't read it because the bibliography is 90% related to James with practically nothing devoted to Buddhism. On Mar 26, 2013, at 2:27 PM, david buchanan <[email protected]> wrote: > > Lucy (Marsha) said one and all: > > From the abstract of dmb's exalted thesis. "I conclude by making a case that > James and Pirsig are offering an empirically based form of philosophical > mysticism that is comparable to a non-theistic religion like Buddhism." > I wonder if he actually made a convincing case for such a statement... > > > > dmb says: > > 1) There are only two people who've received a copy of my thesis, Pirsig and > McWatt. Since McWatt says he hasn't read it and Pirsig doesn't participate in > this forum, I wonder why you've posed the question here and addressed it to > "one and all". > > 2) Since successfully defending one's thesis is the most important > requirement for graduating and I did graduate, doesn't your question fly in > the face of common sense? As is the case with every student, each of the > thesis committee members had to read my thesis, grill me about it in person > and then decide whether or not I get to graduate. If a student fails to make > a convincing case for their thesis statement, they don't get a diploma, not > even those who earned perfect scores up to that point. > > 3) I don't believe that your question is sincere and if you were given an > answer you'd just find a way to mock it or dismiss it. I believe you have no > interest in any answer to your question and no capacity to understand it even > if you were sincere. If you really wanted to know about the connections > between pragmatic empiricism and Buddhism, I guess it would only be fitting > to go take a look for yourself. > > > > B. Alan Wallace is a huge fan of Buddhism and William James. YouTube makes it > easy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wso7hpd-24 > > > The Varieties of Pure Experience: William James and Kitaro Nishida on > Consciousness and Embodiment by Joel W. Krueger > http://williamjamesstudies.org/1.1/krueger.html > "The notion of "pure experience" is one of the most intriguing and > simultaneously perplexing features of William James's writings. There seems > to be little consensus in the secondary literature as to how to understand > this notion, and precisely what function it serves within the overall > structure of James's thought. Yet James himself regards this idea as the > cornerstone of his radical empiricism. And the latter, James felt, was his > unique contribution to the history of philosophy; he believed that philosophy > "was on the eve of a considerable rearrangement" when his essay "A World of > Pure Experience" was first published in 1904. While Western philosophy is > still perhaps awaiting this "considerable rearrangement," James's notion of > pure experience was quickly appropriated by another thinker who in fact did > inaugurate a considerable rearrangement of his own intellectual tradition: > the Japanese philosopher Kitaro Nishida (1870—1945), the founder and most > important figure of the Kyoto School of modern Japanese philosophy." > > > William James and Buddhism: American Pragmatism and the Orient by David Scott > http://www.thescotties.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/james-buddhism.pdf > "William James pursued far ranging enquiries in America across the fields of > psychology, philosophy and religious studies between 1890 and 1910. > Historical and comparative overlaps emerge between James and Buddhism from > these pursuits. This article first sets out James’ own nineteenth-century > American context. There follows James’ own more explicit references to > Buddhism, which particularly focused on the meaning of the term ‘religion’ > and on specific elements of Buddhist teachings. In turn comes a substantive > comparative look at certain themes in both James and Buddhism, namely, > ‘consciousness’, ‘integration’ and ‘criteria of truth claims’. The common > functionalist tendencies in James and Buddhism are highlighted. Finally, the > article attempts a wider look at the interaction between American thought and > Buddhism during the twentieth century. This interaction is exemplified by > John Dewey, Charles Hartshorne, Daisetz Suzuki, Kitaro Nishida and David > Kalupahana, and also across the fields of psychology, pragmatism and process > philosophy. In all of these areas James emerges as a model for studying > American thought and Buddhism." > > > > William James and Yogaacaara philosophy: A comparative inquiry By Miranda > Shaw http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-PHIL/shaw2.htm > > INTRODUCTION > "A general kinship between the philosophy of William James and > certain aspects of Buddhist thought is immediately apparent and > frequently noted.(1) This kinship is most apparent in their shared > conviction that the self is not a permanent entity or > "soul-substance,'' but is rather an aggregate of processes > (Buddhism's skandhas) including a momentary series of states of > consciousness (James' "stream of consciousness" and > Buddhism's cittasa.mtaana) .(2) There are, however, deeper > comparisons that can be made between James and specific > Buddhist thinkers. For instance, the concept of "pure > experience'' in the philosophies of James and Nishida Kitaroo have > much in common. David Dilworth has written a splendid essay on > this,..." > > > > William James and the Medecine Buddha: The Middle Way of Pragmatism > http://www.unm.edu/~rhayes/marriage.pdf > "It is a curious fact of history that the psychology practiced in India two > thousand years ago was more like the psychology taught at Harvard in the > 1890's under James than the psychology taught today in academic universi > ties is like the psychology taught in America one hundred years ago." -- > Eugene Taylor > "Sometime during his tour of America in 1902-1904 Anagarika Dhannapala > attended a lecture by William James at Harvard. Dharmapala was the Sinhalese > Buddhist who had been one of the most popular speakers at the World > Parliament of Religions held during the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition. He > had been working in association with Colonel Olcott and Madame Blavatsky to > renew Buddhism in the modern world, and, from their point of view, spread the > theosophical light in the Occident. Professor James, upon recognizing the > saffron robed Dharmapala in the class, invited him up to speak. "Take my > chair," he said. "You are better equipped to lecture on psychology than 1," > After Dhannapala had given a short talk on Buddhist doctrines James turned to > his students and remarked, "This will be the psychology everybody will be > studying twenty-five years from now."1This anecdote, assuming its > reliability, is most suggestive for anyone who has thought about the > resemblances between James and Buddhism. ..." > > > > > Intimate distances: William James’ introspection, Buddhist mindfulness,and > experiential inquiry by Steven > Stanleyhttp://www.academia.edu/1535110/Intimate_Distances_William_James_Introspection_Buddhist_Mindfulness_Experiential_Inquiry > a b s t r a c t > "The recent and growing interest in ‘mindfulness’ and ‘mindfulness > meditation’ across disciplines in the West presents us with a unique > opportunity to reconsider whetherBuddhism has anything to offer our > contemporary psychological investigations. I arguethat the Buddhist-inspired > practice of mindfulness has potentially profound implica-tions for the ways > in which we conduct our investigations as psychologists, and that, asa style > of experiential inquiry, it has at least one Western antecedent in the > earlyintrospectionist method of William James. Both are practices of becoming > aware of experience; and paradoxically becoming intimately distant with our > experience.I present a non-dualistic approach in which introspection and > mindfulness are seen notonly as psychological but also as social practices, > operating simultaneously at theboundary of the individual/inner and > social/outer, collapsing such distinctions inpractice, and radically > undermining the distinction between self and other. While thereare > similarities between James’practice of introspection and mindfulness, there > arealso differences, and I suggest that they should not be easily conflated. > Clarifying theirrelationship should be helpful, not only in distinguishing > them from one another, but also in pointing to how mindfulness might allow a > broader application than James’ introspection once did." > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
